


Sleeping Arrangements

by Quinnoid



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Literal Sleeping Together, Set on the airship pre-bodyswap, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cel, Slightly Pining Zolf, Somewhere in between friends and something more, Touch Averse Zolf, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinnoid/pseuds/Quinnoid
Summary: Cel and Zolf share a quiet night on the airship. Cel gets a lil delirious from not sleeping enough.
Relationships: Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom & Zolf Smith
Comments: 16
Kudos: 25





	Sleeping Arrangements

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, yes, I'm a liar :) I swear I am taking a break after this, but I got excited about an idea and then it went so far south of the idea that this happened.

The day Zolf had shown Cel the elementals was one of the best days of his life. Not because they were finally, truly on track to saving the world. Not because it meant they were that much closer to getting out of Hiroshima. But because the way Cel’s eyes lit up, the way they said his name so excitedly, the way they broke out into the biggest smile Zolf had ever seen, the way they grabbed onto his arm, forgetting for a moment that he doesn’t really like to be touched. It melted his heart. They jumped back and babbled an apology afterwards, ignoring his reassurance that it was okay. He made a point of grabbing their hand as they watched the elementals power up the engines for a few minutes longer. Cel held his hand tight and began to ramble about the deeper mechanics behind the engines, completely losing him after the first few words, but they were just so excited he didn’t want to interrupt them. It’d been a long time since he made anyone so happy. 

Much later that night, Cel, still so excited they couldn’t stop bouncing on the balls of their toes, led Zolf onto the ship to show him something. The whole way, they were chattering about the different modifications they’d made, pointing out the things Earhart had requested, and showing him the little personal touches each of the kobolds had left. They paused for a moment at a wall decorated in sooty handprints: seven kobold and one humanoid. They explained it as something like an artist signing their work, except with time, their handprints would fade away to make room for the next engineers’. It was a tradition of sorts, and they were strangely quiet for a moment before moving on with even more gusto than before. 

Finally, after the whirlwind tour was complete, they stopped in front of one last door. It was tucked away, deep in the belly of the ship, where the hum of the engines just barely reached. Cel’s whole demeanor changed, going from vibrant and excitable to quiet and almost nervous, as they stumbled over a thank you and finally pushed the door open. Inside, was a sparsely decorated room. There was a hammock, a small bed, and a desk tucked away in the corner. A quiet place, just for Zolf, where no one would bother him when he needed it. Of course, being first mate meant that he wouldn’t be able to utilize it much, but they didn’t have much else to give him, aside from that and their thanks. It was perfect, he told them, and if they needed a place to get away, they could use it too. Cel blushed and promised they wouldn’t before leaving him, citing a suddenly pressing engine check.

Of course, they did end up staying in the room. After their third straight night awake after takeoff, Zolf demanded they go to sleep. The ship wasn’t going to fall out of the sky if they slept for a few hours, and he wasn’t about to have them passing out into an engine. Cel fought it, tried to convince him to go away, but he took their hand and gently led them down to that room. They protested, weakly and through giant yawns that showed off some teeth that definitely weren’t quite human or elf. However, Zolf was stubborn, and they climbed into the hammock and fell asleep almost immediately, though he was pretty certain they only slept for a couple hours before getting up to go check on the engines again. For the next week, they had almost the exact same conversation every night, until Cel finally just moved in.

And somehow, all of that led to tonight. To Cel, tossing and turning restlessly in the hammock. To Zolf, curled up on the bed, reading a Cambell novel. Cel flipped over again, and the hammock creaked. Zolf looked up.

“Do you want me to turn the light out?”

“N-no Mr. Smith, it’s- I’m fine.”

Zolf grunted and returned to his book. Jennifer was about to make a stupid choice, and even though he knew the twist that was coming, it was still so good. The hammock groaned again.

“Actually Mr. uh, Zolf, do you think uhm, do you think I could come lay down with you?” 

Zolf glanced up to see them staring down at him, dark eyes painfully hopeful. “Sure.” He patted the bed. They slipped out of the hammock with their blanket and carefully laid down right at the edge, facing the wall with their blanket wrapped tightly around themself. “Oi, you can uh, you don’t need to be on the edge like that. I don’t bite.”

They rolled over, brows furrowed and one sharp tooth digging into their lip. “Are you sure? Not about the biting, I mean. I-I don’t want to impose, I mean I sort of already am, but I don’t want to impose more?” 

“You aren’t.” His frankness didn’t seem to reassure them much, so he held out one arm in invitation. They slowly slid over and stiffly leaned against him. “Cel? If you aren’t comfortable you don’t-”

“No! No, no it’s.. I know you don’t really like being so close to people and- well I feel like I’m forcing you and-”

“I don’t mind you.” He paused. “You’re not.. I trust you. And you don’t push me for it.” 

“Oh.” They relaxed a little bit, and he was a bit surprised at how comfortable he was as well. His skin didn’t feel so prickly around them. And although they seemed to be all sharp joints, they fit easily against him. “Thank you for trusting me Mr.- Zolf. I’m glad I’ve managed to earn it.”

The conversation fell apart after that, and Zolf was almost certain they had fallen asleep when they spoke up again. “Do you have a nickname?”

“A nickname?” 

“Yeah, you know, like mine’s Cel or Quill, a few people have called me Quill, ‘cause most people don’t say Celiquillithon.”

“Oh. No, I don’t think so. Not much you can shorten Zolf to.”

“Hm.” He could practically hear the gears in their mind turning, working in overtime with how tired they are. “I mean, no one’s ever called you Z? Or Zo?”

He barked out a laugh at that, startling them. “No, no one’s ever given me a nickname before. Unless.. Well, there was someone who called me ‘boss’. But she’s uh.. She’s gone on.”   
  
“Oh.  _ Oh. _ I’m sorry.” Cel brushed their fingers over his hand before jerking back. “Sorry, sorry I’m-” They froze when he laced their fingers together gently. It was just loose enough that if they wanted, they could pull their hand back. They didn’t.

“Hey. I’ll tell you if I need you to move, right? I’m fine, you’re fine. Like I said I trust you, and.. Honestly, you’re probably the only person I’ve ever really been comfortable with.”

“Alright Z. That’s good.” They yawned into his shirt. Zolf’s heart skipped a little beat at how casually they said the nickname, at how easy it seemed. 

“Right Quill. Go to sleep.” His face screwed up a bit at the name. It felt weird to say, and definitely not like them at all. They chuckled, almost sounding delirious with exhaustion. 

“Z and Quill. Hm.” They mumbled. “Z Quill. Sounds like a shipname.”

“A ship.. name?”

“Y’know when two people have a relationship and you just. Smash their names together. ‘S called a shipname.” Zolf raised his eyebrows. He didn't have a clue what they were talking about. And he certainly hadn’t broached the subject of a relationship with them, although he wouldn’t be opposed, but for them to just say something like that so casually. “Not saying we have a relationship, just.. Yeah. I’m sorry, I’m very tired.” 

“I can tell. Go to sleep,” Zolf chuckled and squeezed their hand, and they squeezed back. “I’ll be right here.”

They slept through the night for the first time since taking off. And when Zolf woke up the next morning, they were still asleep and laying half on top of him. It was comfortable. It was nice. Zolf was pretty certain he'd like the new sleeping arrangements.

**Author's Note:**

> Zquill. Honestly. I really wanted this to just be humorous Cel meta-ing about shipnames but apparently I am only writing feelings rn. Ah well it was fun.
> 
> Also! You all are v kind! What the heck! I appreciate all of you and your comments so much :)


End file.
